SACE | Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

Stephen Smith, DVM

Executive Director

Dr. Stephen A. Smith has 30 years of experience effecting change for the environment. Since 1993, Dr. Smith has led the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) as its executive director. SACE is a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization working to promote responsible energy choices that create global warming solutions and ensure clean, safe and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. SACE has grown to be a premier voice for energy efficiency and renewable energy issues in the region.

Dr. Smith represents SACE by providing leadership and professional expertise to external organizations, committees and working groups. Dr. Smith currently serves on the U. S. Climate Action Network board of directors and previously served as board chair. He also serves on the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Regional Energy Resource Council, which advises the TVA Board of Directors on energy resource activities in the Tennessee Valley region. In the last several years he has served on the North Carolina Legislative Commission on Global Climate Change and the North Carolina Climate Action Planning Advisory Group; the South Carolina Climate, Energy and Commerce Advisory Committee; State of Florida Energy Supply and Demand Committee of the state Climate Action Team; the national governing board for the Center for Resource Solutions’ National Green Power Accreditation; and the U. S. Department of Energy, Tennessee Valley Electric System Advisory Committee. Additionally, he served two terms on Tennessee Valley Authority’s (TVA) Regional Resource Stewardship Council, TVA’s Green Power Marketing Committee, and TVA’s Integrated Resource Planning Advisory Group. He has also had the privilege to testify before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee; the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, U.S. House of Representatives; the Great Smoky Mountain Congressional Caucus; and several state public service commissions.

Dr. Smith holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine from the University of Tennessee and a Bachelor of Science in biology from Kentucky Wesleyan College. In 2009, he and his family commissioned a 7.1 kilowatt rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) system on their Knoxville home; the previous October they installed a solar thermal system. By coupling these solar technologies with additional energy efficiency investments, the Smiths strive to live in a “net-zero energy home.” Dr. Smith’s other areas of interest include sailing, scuba diving, and beekeeping. He practices Ho Am TaeKwonDo as a 1st Degree Black Belt and is an instrument rated private pilot with over 5000 hours flight time. Through his genealogy research, Dr. Smith has identified several family members who served in the Revolutionary War, which designates him as a Son of the American Revolution.